


Things He'll Never Know

by CrazyKitCat



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Awkward Crush, Crushes, Dorks in Love, F/M, Falling In Love, First Love, Friendship/Love, Idiots in Love, Love, Love Confessions, Love at First Sight, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Secret Crush, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-11-02 09:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20704352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyKitCat/pseuds/CrazyKitCat
Summary: She loved him. She loved him because he annoyed her. Nothing would ever come from her love... Right?





	1. Chapter 1

She loved him. She loved him because he annoyed her. Nothing would ever come from her love.

He annoyed and teased her constantly. When she asked him why he intentionally went out of his way to get on her nerves, the only reason he ever gave was that it was entertaining to see her reaction.

He constantly made her life a living hell whenever she was forced to work with him; which, considering they were on the same team, was most of the time. He would poke her sides, tease her constantly, and would throw things at her and laugh when she tried (and failed) to dodge them.

She would retaliate by slapping him playfully, or taking off her heeled shoe to throw at him, always knowing it actually caused him no pain. He would only laugh and take the thrown shoe as a gift, putting it in a place where he knew she wouldn't go (i.e. the boy's restroom or too high for her to reach) making her have to beg to get them back.

She put up with all of these crazy antics for several reasons. The first reason has already been stated: he was a major part of her team, so if she wanted a paycheck, she  _ had  _ to deal with him. The second reason was that he was her best friend, and putting up with their craziness is kind of part of the "job description." The third reason was that she loved him and would do anything for him.

She often tried not to let him see how much his actions truly affected her but, despite her vain attempts to keep her feelings hidden, she failed and they showed through very often. She thanked Mavis and her lucky stars that she was such a good actress that she was able to fool him into thinking that it was annoyance instead of her true feelings.

The sad part was that she knew that he knew how she felt. During the Magnolia Parade celebration two years earlier, when he had been hanging out over at her house, his cat, Happy, had told him teasingly, "You know that she's only begging you to hang out with her because she's in love with you." This had resulted in the past two years (and still counting) of his teasing.

They even had it down to specific quotes: he'd tease her, saying, "You know you love me," and she'd reply immediately with "You  _ wish  _ I loved you," while always wishing it was true.

Because the truth was that she _did_ love him, she just didn't want to fuel his teasing anymore since she knew that there was no way he'd ever return her feelings. He  _ couldn't _ ; that would be impossible.

Occasionally, she'd find herself hoping that he teased her to get close to her. After all: boys did stupid stuff like that, right? But she knew that was impossible. Unfathomable. Ridiculous. He would've tried to show her in another way than his teasing way.

For example, his less-than-enthusiastic participation in being her date to the Grand Ball her father held every year wasn't just because she had begged him to not let her "suffer" through it alone. She would have to be incredibly vain to even consider that to be a possibility.

Another example was his name on the roster for her yoga class. Just because the class was held often enough and he had made sure to ask which time-slot she was in before requesting his own transfer was only because he liked hanging out with her as a friend and nothing more. Right?

Him sitting with her at lunch, not paying attention to what was going on in the guild with her and him going out of his way to help her against other — less likable — obnoxious friends, (for example, not letting her kill Laxus when he objectified her too much) just meant that he was a reliable friend. Right?

And the way he smiled at her in the way she loved, the way his smile made her heart flutter, the way his teasing made her smile, the way he made her feel safe (as if she was  _ his _ to annoy, and no one else's'), was all just innocent gestures that she blew way out of proportion in her head. Right?

_ Coincidence, ridiculous, a close friendship, he's innocent, I'm crazy _ . These were all of the excuses and reasonings she used, for she was positive she would go crazy if she thought too hard on his improbable hints and flirtations.

All that mattered was that she loved him and he didn't return those feelings. She would just be his friend while secretly harboring her unrequited love for his and she would be fine.

_ Right _ ?


	2. Things She'd Never Suspect

Natsu was getting tired of Lucy avoiding him. They were _ best friends_ . If he was being honest, though, he was more tired of pretending that he _ wasn’t _in love with her.

While he pretended that he was clueless, he was actually quite observant. He knew she was beginning to distance herself from him. What he _ didn’t _ know was _ why_. 

At first, he thought she was just tired of his teasing. He could easily admit that he may overdo it with the jokes, but he enjoyed teasing her because her reactions were so funny to him. She always over-reacted. It was so easy to prove his words wrong through his actions too. She was stunning, but thought she wasn’t anything special, so he’d bring her attention to her flaws right before he’d lift her into his arms to show he thought she was practically weightless.

When she first joined the guild, he knew she was insecure about feeling as if she belonged. He tried to make her feel like she belonged to their family by keeping up the conversation and treating her the same as he would other guild members. Whenever they went on the same job — which was most of the time since they were on the same team — he would poke her sides and would toss little things at her like leaves and acorns, laughing when she tried (and failed) to dodge them. She’d retaliate, but both knew she couldn’t hurt him and he thought it was a mutual game.

He was growing frustrated, though. She should know that he was only teasing her because he liked her, but she was acting like she thought he was serious. When he realized he was hurting her, he had tried to dial it back and actually _ tell _ her that he loved her, but she’d always brush him off. He _ knew _how she felt — Happy was pretty accurate about how people felt — but she always denied it.

In a last ditch attempt to show how much she mattered to him, he volunteered to do more things that _ she _ wanted to. He went with her to Jude Heartfilia’s annual party. Lucy acted like it was a nuisance that he was there. He tried to work out with her at her place, but she always complained. He even tried signing up for her _ yoga class _ of all things.

And now she was mad and avoiding him. And he was _ done_.

“Hey Luce!” he called out angrily as he pulled himself through her window. “We need to talk!”

“Damn it Natsu!” Lucy fumed. “Can’t you use the door like a _ normal _person?!”

“Didn’t want to,” he shrugged as he dusted himself off. “If I knocked, I didn’t know if you’d ignore me. And if you _ did _ decide to ignore me, I didn’t want to risk you locking the window, so I skipped a step.”

“How _ generous_,” Lucy rolled her eyes. “Did you consider the concept that I may be _ busy?_”

“It’s Sunday,” he shrugged. “You’re always writing on Sunday and you always take your break around this time.”

“Well if know so much about me,” she argued. “Then you’d know I like to be left alone to decompress after a writing binge!”

“No you _ don’t!” _ he argued back. “You _ like _ watching bad movies with Happy and I. You _ like _ curling up on the sofa with me because I run warmer than others and you always run cold. You _ like _ that we crash at your place and bring you dinner because you don’t stop writing long enough to eat. _ That’s _ what you like!”

“Very good Natsu,” she scoffed, sarcastically. “I guess you know _ everything_ . Can’t hide anything from _ you, can I!?”_

“You’re certainly trying hard!” he glared. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“Oh the Wise Natsu can’t figure it out?” she rolled her eyes. “You think you know me so well, but you know what I _ don’t _like?”

“What?”

“You want to know what I don’t like?” Lucy threw her arms up in exasperation. “Fine! I don’t like your mixed signals. I don’t like when your words and actions pull me in two directions at the same time. I don’t like that I actually _ do _ like it when you tease me because it makes me feel important. I hate how you always say mean things but act so sweetly! I _ especially hate _ the fact that you always tease me about being in love with you, _ because I am _ ! I _ really _ hate how it hurts every time you tease me about it because I know you _ can’t _love me that way!”

“Why?”

“_Why?” _ Lucy shrieked in frustration, both at him and at the fact she was so tired her emotions and words were overflowing. “Because you’re _ Natsu _ and you don’t like me that way!”

“No, Lucy,” Natsu corrected as he moved to cup her cheek, wiping away her angry tears. “Why do you assume that I _ don’t_?”

Lucy just shook her head at him in confusion, telling him that she had no idea what he was talking about.

“Come here,” he tugged her gently towards the couch. “We need to sit for this.”

“Natsu,” Lucy protested as she collapsed onto her sofa, surprised at how closely they were sitting to each other. “I have no idea what you’re saying… Please just tell me what you’re trying to say!”

“I’m saying that I can’t _ fall _ in love with you, Lushee,” he told her gently, “because I always have been.”

“You _ what_?” she couldn’t believe her ears. “Why did you never _ say _ anything?”

“I could tell that telling you that I was in love with you when you first bought me lunch wasn’t going to go over well. I decided I’d take it slow and ease you into getting to know me.”

“So you _ tormented _ me?”

“I never did that!” Natsu argued. “I just teased you a little to throw you off my scent.”

“Is that how you knew?” she asked curiously. “Love at first sight isn’t exactly common.” 

“I didn’t _ smell _ that I liked you Lucy!” Natsu chuckled at the absurdity. “I knew that we were soulmates because of Bora’s spell. Remember when we first met how Bora had you under a love spell? The only way to break those is to be _ aware _of the magic, or...?”

“Or by seeing your soulmate!” Lucy’s jaw dropped in realization. “So you fell in love with me because of _ that?” _

Natsu shook his head.

“I already told you I fell for you because I liked your attitude when you bought Happy and I lunch. You wanted to get through life fairly, you loved my guild and family before you even met them, and you were kind enough to share your meager funds to buy complete strangers a full course buffet without complaining. Throw all of that together with how beautiful you are and how could I _ not _ fall for you?”

“Why do you tease me about my weight and poke my sides if you think I’m pretty?”

“Because you should _ know _ that I’m not serious! Not to be crude, but your body is stunning and your personality makes you even more beautiful!”

“This is the mixed signals I’m tired of, Natsu,” she sighed, tears falling despite her best attempts to keep them at bay. “I just want honesty! I don’t like the back and forth teasing and feeling frustrated.”

“You want me to be honest about everything?” He clarified. “You want me to spell it out for you?”

Lucy nodded, helplessly. Natsu sighed.

“Look at me, then,” he urged her as he tilted her chin up, so she’d look into his eyes. “I’m in love with you Lucy. I’ve always been in love with you.”

“What does that mean to you?” She asked. “What _ exactly _do you want from me?”

“What else?” Natsu laughed. “I want your heart in exchange for mine. I want to take you on dates and hold your hand and _ maybe _ even kiss you.”

Lucy started at him for a few moments until—

“Why haven’t you?”

“Because you haven’t said ‘yes’ yet,” he grinned widely as he leaned in close enough that their noses brushed.

Lucy looked deeply into his eyes. Seeing his sincerity, she sobbed in joy and relief before throwing her arms around his neck.

Natsu quickly swept in and kissed her sweetly.

Lucy had never believed those silly romance books before, but she swore she felt her heart inflate in joy as he kissed her. When he finally pulled away, she grinned widely at him.

“I love you!”

“I know!” Natsu chuckled. “You thought I didn’t, but I’ve known all along!”

“Cheeky bastard!”

“Only for my beautiful girlfriend,” he agreed.

She pulled him into another kiss and sighed in relief that she wouldn’t have to hide her feelings anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... I originally posted this on ffnet as a self reflection a long time ago when I was in highschool... I never had a happy ending. He and I graduated and he never gave me the closure I desperately desired... Years later, I was cleaning up my ffnet stories with a beta and I wanted to give this story a happy end... The logic is cringey at best, but weren't most high school romance decisions? The characters here are supposed to be 16-17, just like I was then... I never clarified with "my guy" why he acted the way he did or said the things he said, so this is the best I could come up with in terms of his motivations... I kept chapter one very close to the original writing, only changing a few facts for universe consistency... While the second chapter was written years later, I tried to keep the original tone consistent. I hope you enjoy!!!

**Author's Note:**

> So I completely based this story on my own life when I was in high school. I wrote this years ago when I was going through this in the hopes of crushing down that hope it could be more. It didn't have a happy ending for me, but I wanted to give it a happy ending now.  
If you think the characters are acting awkward or out of character, remember... these are teenagers. Not all of their thoughts or actions make sense, but I tried to be as authentic as possible.


End file.
